Refrigerating apparatus



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z 58 y s l EgTR Z will@ ATTORNEYS E. F. SCHWELLER REFRIGE'RATINGAPPARATUS Original Filed July 5, 1951 1 i BY sept. s, 1936.

Sept. 8, 1936 E. F. scHwELLl-:R 2,053,803

REFRIAGRATING APPARATUS Original Filed July 5, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 BYATTORNEYS Sept 8, 1936- E. F. SCHWELLER 2,053,803

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed July 5, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 yZZ 22 L l J 2 BY Ll/ENTR Sept 8, 1935- E. F. scHwELLER 2,053,803

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed July 5, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 85I I "i I l 2: [I .EN o

' BY ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. A8, 1936 'I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEBEFRIGERATING APPARATUS Edmund F. Schweller, Dayton, Ohio, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to General Motors-Corporation, a corporation ofDelaware Application July 3, 1931, Serial No. 548.58 Renewed December 6,1933 f 15 Claims. (Cl.v 220-9) This invention relates to refrigeratingapframes, each frame dening an air space lined paratus and moreparticularly to heat insulated at least in part with sheets of foil; toprovide cabinet construction. means for preventing transfer of heat fromone In the manufacture of insulated cabinets, it frame to another; toseal each air space to therehas been proposed to use air spaces in thewalls by prevent the ingress of moisture to the spaces 5 thereof toprevent the transfer of heat therebetween the foil; and to provideconstructions of through. Heretofore such practice hasbeen uninsulatedcabinets easy and economical to handle satisfactory for the reason thatradiant heat will in large scale production. pass freely through air,and, in addition, the Further objects and advantages ofthepresconvection currents set up therein will transfer ent inventionwill be apparent from the follow- 10 large amounts of heat therethrough.To overing description, reference being had to the accome the transferof radiant heat it has been companying drawings, wherein a preferredform proposed to provide a dead air space bounded by of the presentinvention is clearly shown.

a thin bright metal foil or-leaf. such for instance In the drawings:

l5 as bright aluminum foil. By the term metal foil Fig. l is a verticalsectional view along the l5 is meant thin leaves of metal either with orline I-I ofv Fig. 3 embodying one form of the without paper backing ofsuch thickness that invention; they can be readily formed to any desiredshape. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of It has beenfound that these bright metallic surtheeabinet aleng the line 2-2 0fFig. 3;

faces of foil radiate but very little heat, and Fig. 3 iS a SectionalVieW along the line 3-3 2o consequently it is possible to utilize airspaces 0f Fig- 2;

lined with such bright surfaces in heat insulating Fig. 4 iS avertiealSeCtiOnal View 0f a Dertien cabinets. of a refrigerator cabinetdisclosing a modified Attempts to adapt such thin bright metallic ferm0f the invention: foil to cabinet constructlonso as to utilize air Fig.5 iS an enlarged VieW 0f an upper C01ne1 25 spaces in the walls thereoffor insulating pur- 0f Fig- 4; i poses have met with great diculty. Inthe Fig- 6 iS a perspective View 0f One 0f the nrst place, this foil isextremely thin and conseframes together With a Set 0f` Spacing bleCkSquently must be so constructed as to prevent ShOWn in Figs. 4 and 5;

3o rupturing of the foil when such cabinets are Fig. 7isamodified formof frame construction; 30

subjected to the slam test, a test involving the Fig- 8 iS anQihelmodified forni 0f 30nopening and closing of the cabinet door overSirllCtOn SOIneWhai; Similar t0 Figs. 4 andi 5; prolonged periods oftime. In addition, the foil Fig- 9 iS a'SeetiOnal View along the line9--9 musi; be so supported Within the cabinet wall as of Fig. 10 of amodified form of frame constructo maintain it substantially taut at alltimes, tien employing reinforced cardboard; and 35 while at the sametime preventing the transfer Fig. 10 is a sectional view along the lineIlll0 cf heat through these supporting means. Third- 0f Fig 9- ly, careshould be taken to prevent the entrance In Order i0 illusiraie'oneaspect 0f my invenof humid air inl-,o the air spaees boundedv by tion, Ihave disclosed in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive a 4o sheets of foil, otherwisethe moisture therein refrigerator cabinet generally designated as 20. 40condenses upon the sheets of bright metallic foil. This Cabinet includesa 10Wer machinery com- This may cause the foil to tarnish and to losepariment '2| formed by the upright Cerner memsome of its reflectingproperties which make it bers 22 and horizontal cross members 23. 'I'heparticularly valuable for insulating purposes food storage compartment24 is located in the It is to such structure that my invention par-Upper Dertien 0f the Cabnet- This feed Storage 45 ticularly relates,having for one of its objects to compartment is preferably but notnecessarily enprovide a cabinet construction having foil insu- ClosedWithin a One-Piece metal liner 01' inner lation, that is, a cabinetcapable of utilizing a Wall 25. This lining has its front edgessecuredthin bright metauic foil to advantage, while at t0 horizontal crOSS beams 21 and Similar upright the same time eliminating Ymost of itsdisadvanmembers 28 forming a rectangular i091 lamb. 50 tages, Aconvenient way of securing the liner 25 to the More particularly, it isan object of the invendoor jamb iS Shown 0n the drawings Comprising tionto provide an improved cabinet construction nailing or otherwisesecuring the front edges the walls of which are composed of independentof the liner 25 to the rectangular door jamb and panels, each panelincluding a plurality of then securing over the ledges thereof a wooden55 moulding 30 having a relatively low conductivity.

This moulding 30 serves to break the conduction of heat from theexterior of the cabinet to the inner liner 25.

Sheets of metal form the outer walls of the cabinet. 'I'he sheet metalmember 3iv is provided for covering the rectangular door jamb. The parts25, 3i, and 33 may be coated with porcelain and in this case chipboard32 is placed beneath the sheet metal covering for preventing thechipping of the porcelain. A continuous strip of sheet metal covering 33forms the top and rear outer walls of the cabinet. Over the sheet metalcovering 33 a top covering 34 preferably coated with porcelain isprovided. A sheet metal covering 35, protected by the chipboard 36, isprovided on the side walls of the cabinet. Insulation is providedbetween theI inner and outer walls of the cabinet 20 and more strictlyspeaking between the inner liner 25 and the outer sheet metal covering33 and 35. This construction preferably takes the form of a plurality ofindependent panels, performed before assembling and composed of aplurality of frames, each frame including an air space lined at least inpart with this bright metal foil. For example, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3inclusive, seven rectangular insulating panels, each formed of aplurality of rectangular wooden frames with sheets of bright metallicfoil thereon, are provided for insulating the cabinet. The topinsulating panel is designated generally by the reference character 40.The bottom insulating panel is designated in general by the referencecharacter 4I. The rear insulating panel is generally designated by thereference character 42 while the side insulating panels are designatedbyreference characters 43 and 44. These panels are similar in generalconstruction. Taking the side panel 44 as an example of thisconstruction, there is provided adjacent the inner liner 25 arectangular wooden frame 46 -to which is attached on the inner side ofthis frame adjacent the liner 25 a sheet of heavy waterproof material 41such as waterproof paper. On the other side of this rectangular woodenframe 46 there is attached a sheet of bright metallic foil 48. On theouter side of this sheet of bright metallic foil 48 is attached a secondrectangular frame 49 similar to the rectangular wooden frame 46 and tothe outer side of the rectangular wooden frame 49 is attached,preferably by a waterproof glue, a second sheet 50 of bright metallicfoil similar to the sheet 48. At the outer side of the sheet of brightmetallic foil 50 is another rectangular wooden frame 5I similar to theframes 46 and 49. This frame, as well as the frames 46 and 49, ispreferably coated on both sides with a waterproof glue in assembling thepanel. On the outer side of the rectangular wooden frame 5I is attached,by a suitable glue, another sheet of bright metallic foil 52. On theoutside of the sheet 52 of bright metallic foil is a fourth rectangularwooden frame 53 which is attached to the sheet 52 of bright metallicfoil by a suitable waterproof glue. 0n the outer side of the rectangularwooden frame 53 a corrugated sheet of paper 54 is attached by' asuitable waterproof glue. 'I'hese insulating panels are constructedseparately as independent units before the assembly of the cabinet. Therectangular wooden frames of each panel are suitably attached togetherby nails or other means to form the insulating panel which'is easilyhandled and which is readily assembled into the cabinet. By thisconstruction each air space is sealed.

In assembling the cabinet, the framework comprising the four corneruprights 22, connecting cross pieces 23, 31, 38, and parts of the doorjamb 21 and 38 are first connected together into a unit. The inner liner25, after being coated with porcelain, is then attached at its frontedges to the top and side members 21 and 28 of the rectangular doorjamb. The insulating panels are then placed against the outer side ofthe inner liner between the frame members and at the rear portions ofthe cabinet wooden or other non-conducting frame spacing members 56 areattached to the uprights 22 in order to hold the insulating panel 42 inproper position. Similarly the wooden or other non-conducting spacingmembers 51 are attached to the frame member 21 and the top frame member38 is holding the insulating panel 40 in proper position. Theseinsulating panels are preferably sealed on their outer faces by asuitable asphaltic substance 58, such as hydrolene, which is pouredwhile hot over the cardboard sheets of the insulating panel and isparticularly provided at the corners of the panel for sealing theinsulating panels from moisture. This asphaltic substance solidieswithin a short time. The corrugated paper acts as an insulator toprevent the heat of the asphaltic substance from distorting theinsulating panel or damaging the sheets of foil in any manner. Ifdesired, any other suitable insulating sheet may be used instead of thecorrugated paper. Also the corrugated paper may rst be suitably coatedwith a waterproofing substance before the assembling of the frame andafter the panel is assembled into the cabinet, the hot asphalticmaterial need merely be poured around the edges of the panel so.

that these portions are also sealed to prevent moisture from enteringthe insulating panels. After this the outer walls of the cabinet areplaced over the insulating panels.

The door 59 is Asimilarly insulated by providing rectangular woodenframes having sheets of bright metallic foil thereon and bywaterproofing the inner and outer sheets of each panel. By such aconstruction, moisture is prevented from entering the air spacesprovided between the sheets of foil and the sheets of foil are preventedfrom tarnishing. l

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 a slightly modified form of construction, is shown.In Fig. 4 there is shown to lillustrate this form, the portion of. arefrigerator cabinet 1U having a machinery compartment ,1I in its lowerportion and a food storage combers 13 and suitable connecting crossmembers 14.

Attached to the front upright member 13 and the horizontal connectingcross members 14 is a rec- -Itangular door jamb frame 15. To the irmerpor- -tion of the door jamb frame 15 is attached the front edges of theinner liner `or wall 16 which surrounds the food storage compartment 12.This inner liner 16 is preferably, but not necessarily, made in onepiece.

An outer lining or wall 11 surrounds the inner liner 16 but is spacedtherefrom to provide an insulating space between the inner and outerlining. 'The rectangular attaching member 18 is attached to the rearside of the rectangular door jamb 15 and to this attaching member thefront edges of the outer liner 11 is attached. This outer liner 11 maybe made in one piece or, as

`1 shown in Fig. 4, may be made in two or more pieces.` In order toprevent the access of moisture to the insulating space it is necessarythat liner be air-tight. Preferably these sheets of the outerliner maybe joined together by a suitable soldering or welding operation. Thefront edges of both the inner and outer liners 18 and 11 are preferablysealed by suitable sealing compound as shown designated by referencecharacters 19 and 80.

Between the inner and outer liners or walls 16 and 11, insulating panelsare provided. These rectangular frames: Sheets of bright metallic foil83 are attached to both sides of the inner rectangular frames by asuitable waterproof glue and to the inner side of the outer rectangularframe of each of the insulating panels. 'Ihe frames are all stackedtogether and fastened by suitable means such as nails. In order to sealthe outer perimeter of each of the frames, since the frames in thismodification are spaced by the blocks 82, a strip of sealing paper orother suitable sealing substance-84 is attached by a suitable waterproofglue to the perimeter of each insulating panel. This encloses and sealseach of the air spaces, preventing convection currents, and alsopreventing moisture from gaining access to the air spaces and the foil.`It will be seen by inspection of Figs. 4 and 5 that the innermost airspace oil the back panel in the figures is directly adjacent the innerliner 18 of the food storage compartment 12 and that this air space,excepting for the rectangular baille members 85, extends to the outerwall of the cabinet. Should the rectangular baille member 85 not bepresent, heat would be easily transferred from the outer wall of thecabinet through this air space directly to the food storage compartment12. By providing rectangular baille members between the sheets of theback panel, this direct transfer of heat is prevented and especially theconvection of air in the innermost air spacedirectly from the innerliner 15 to the outer walls of the cabinet, is prevented. In this way asubstantially dead air space prevents the direct transfer of heat fromthe air spaces adjacent the back wall of the inner liner 16 to the outerwall of the cabinet. 'I'he barile members 85 may be installed veryeasily during the assembly of the panel by using rectangularpanelsformed of U-shaped strips of thin stiff cardboard, but -other forms offrames such as light wooden or other non-conducting frames may be used,if desired. For symmetry all of the spaces between the sheets of theback wall are provided with the rectangular bafe members. It will beunder stood that only the several of the innermost air spaces actuallyrequire such baiiles since the outermost air spaces do not have a directaccess to the inner liner 16 of the food storage compartment 12. A

The outer liner 11 is covered by galvanized sheet metal covering 89 atthe rear of the cabinet, and the top and side portions of the outerliner are covered with the sheet metal covering 99. As in Figs. 1 to 3,the various liners may be porcelained and chipboard l |19 may be placedbetween the outer covering 99 and the inner liner 11 to prevent theporcelain from chipping. A similar construction is used in covering thedoor jamb 15. Chipboard lill is placed upon the outer side of the doorjamb frame 15 and in a suitable sheet metal covering III, preferablycoated with porcelain, is attached to the door jamb frame 15 over thischipboard. The sides of this covering extend to the inner walls of thedoor jamb frame 15 and a suitable moulding H2, of a material having apoor conductivity, is placed upon these inner walls so that it coversthe front edges of the inner liner 16 and the edges of the outercovering III of the door jamb frame which extend into the inner walls ofthe door jamb frame 15.

The door H2 is similarly insulated. It is provided with a wooden frameH3 which is provided with a sheet metal covering Ill on its inner andouter sides. 'I'his covering is preferably coated with porcelain.-Between this sheet metal covering on the innerand outer sides of thedoor is a rectangular insulated panel I I5 which is similar to thepanels between the inner and outer liners 16 and 11 of the otherportions of the cabinet. In Fig. '1 there is shown a slightly modiedform of insulating panels from that shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. In thisform, excepting for the innermost top spacing block 86, the othermembers of the panel comprise rectangular frames 81 extending around theperimeter of the insulating panels. Sheets of bright metallic foil 88are attached to the inner adjacent sides of the rectangular wooden framemembers 81 and to the innermost side of the innermost frame memberinsulating panel shown in Fig. 7 by a suitable waterproof glue. Theframe members 81 and the blocks 86 are attached together by suitablemeans such as nails.

In Fig. 8 another modification is shown. In this figure there is shownfor the purposes of illustration an inner wall or liner 90 and an outerwall or liner 9| of an insulating cabinet. .These inner and outer wallsaresealed in a suitable manner such as is shown in Fig. 4. Between theinner and outer walls'- 90 and 9| is provided an insulating panel 92.This insulating panel preferably comprises a pair 'of rectangular woodenframes 93 and 94. The'inner rectangular frame member 94 has sheets ofbright metallic foil attached to both sides thereof and the outer framemember 93 has a sheet of bright metallic foil attached to its innermostside and a sheet of paper 96 attached to its outermost side. It has beenfound that three sheets of foil are suiiicient toA .similar to thewooden blocks 82, shown in Fig. 6,

and are preferably spaced from the inner and outer liners 90 and 9i bythe blocks 98. By employing blocks for separating the frames from eachother and from the walls of the cabinet, the heat leakage by conductionthrough the rectangular wooden frames is geratly reduced. If desired,the insulating panels shown in Fig. 8 may be provided with a sealingstrip, similar to the sealing strip shown at 84 in Fig. 5, for sealingthe air spaces between the sheets of foil.

In Figs. 9 and 10 another modification is shown. In this modificationthe rectangular frames forming the insulating panels are made of U-shaped pieces |09 of thin stiff cardboard which strips |02, better shownin Fig. 10 to make a corrugated cardboard frame. The sides of theserectangular cardboard frames are preferably attached at the corners by asuitable glue or paste, 5 but they may be attached by a. suitable clip4or staple. The zigzag reinforcing strip |02 is preferably attached tothe U-shaped cardboard frames by a suitable glue or staple. Sheets ofbright metallic foil |03 are attached to the inner adjacent sides of therectangular cardboard frame \members of the insulating panels shown inFigs. 9 and 10 and sheets of paper |04, preferably of the waterprooftype, are placed upon the outer sides of the insulating panel and alsoaround the i5 perimeter of the insulating panel. By placing sheets ofstrong waterproof paper on the outside of the insulating panel. moistureis prevented from getting into the panel and causing a failure of thecardboard frames and from causing tarnishing of the foil. The strongpaper also aids in handling the insulating panels. A suitable sealingstrip |05 is provided for sealing the air spaces between the sheets offoil.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 4 to 10, the panels are built upindependently and as separate units and are assembled as units asdescribed in connection with Figs. 1 to 3.

By employing an insulation in which the sheets of foil are placed uponframes which are made up into insulating panels for each side of thecabinet, the handling of the foil is greatly facilitated and then thefoil can more easily be made by mass production methods. This alsofacilitates the assembling of the cabinet. 35 While the form ofembodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferredform. it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, allcoming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An insulated storage cabinet including inner and outer walls, andinsulating means between said inner and outer walls including aplurality of polygon frames, said frames having sheets of brightmetallicfoil secured to the sides of said frames enclosing air spaces betweenthe sheets of foil, said frames comprising U-shaped strips of cardboardhaving zigzag reinforcing strips therein.

2. An insulated storage cabinet including inner and outer walls, andinsulating means between said inner and outer walls including aplurality of polygon frames, said frames having sheets of brightmetallic foil secured to the sides of said frames enclosing air spacesbetween the sheets of foil and polygon bailies in the air spaces betweensaid sheets.

3. An insulated storage cabinet including inner and outer walls andinsulation between said inner and outer walls including a plurality ofindividual polygon frames, sheets of bright metallic foil upon Asaidframes, a plurality of small spacing blocks between said iframes forspacing said frames to provideair spaces between said sheets of foil,said frames being fastened together to form a panel, .anda sealingstriparound the perimeter of said panel for preventing the access ofmoisture to thefexterior of said panel.

4. Anv insulated storage cabinet having inner and outer walls andinsulating means between said inner and outer walls including aplurality of individual polygon frames, said frames having sheets oi'brightmetallic foil thereon, a plurality of small spacing blocks betweensaid frames and a plurality of small spacing blocks on the outer sidesof the outermost frames for spacing said frames from said inner andouter walls.

5. An insulated storage cabinet including inner and outer walls, meansforming insulation cavities within said walls, means within saidinsulation cavities supporting a plurality of sheets of bright metallicfoil in spaced relation providing a plurality of air spaces between saidsheets of foil, a cover sheet having a relatively low conductivityfitting within one of said cavities and enclosing said sheets of foilwithin said cavity, and mearis forl sealing the joints between saidcover sheet and the walls of the cavity.

6. An insulated storage cabinet including innen and outer walls,insulating means between said inner and outer walls including aplurality of frame members fastened together to form a panel,

' sheets of bright metallic foil b etween said frame members, awaterproof sheet sealed to one side of said panel, a sheet 'covering theother side of said panel, structural members between said inner andouter walls surrounding said panel and a viscous substance sealing thespaces between said panel and said structural members.

'7. An insulated storage cabinet including a plurality of structuralmembers joined together to form a cabinet frame, inner and outer wallsfor the cabinet supported by said cabinet frame, and insulation betweensaid inner and outer walls, said insulation comprising a plurality ofinsulating frames fastened together to form an insulating panel, sheetsof bright metallic foil held between said insulating frames to enclose aplurality of air spaces within said panel, and a viscous substancesealing said panel to adjacent structural members.

8. An insulated storage cabinet including a plurality of structuralmembers joined together to form a cabinet frame, inner and outer wallsfor the cabinet supported by said cabinet frame, and insulation betweensaid inner and outer walls, said insulation comprising a plurality ofinsulating frames fastened together to form an insulating panel, sheetsof bright metallic foil held between said'insulating frames to enclose aplurality of air spaces within said panel, a waterproof sheet sealed toone side of said panel, an insulat ing sheet on the opposite side ofsaid panel and a viscous substance covering said insulating sheet andthe spaces between the panel and adjacent structural members.

9. An insulated food storage cabinet including inner and outer walls,and insulating means between the inner and outer walls including aninsulation panel having a plurality of polygon frames stacked together,said panel having sheets of bright metallic foil between the polygonframes, said sheets being held in spaced relation forming substantiallydead air spaces therebetween, said panel having a sheet of corrugatedcardboard on one side for protecting said bright metallic foil and forstrengthening the panel. l

l0. An insulating structure including inner and outer walls andinsulating means between the inner and outer walls including a pluralityoi individual polygon frames having a plurality of sheets thereon, atleast one of the sheets having a metallic heat reflecting surface, and aplurality of small spacing blocks for holding said frames and sheets inspaced relation with gas spaces therebetween.

11. An insulating structure including inner and outer walls andinsulating means between the inner and outer walls including a pluralityof individual polygon frames having a plurality of sheets thereon. atleast one of the sheets having a metallic heat reecting surface, and aplurality of small spacing blocks for holding said frames spaced fromone of the walls.

12. An insulation panel including a plurality of spaced sheets and aplurality of individual open frame structures between the sheets forholding the sheets in spaced relation with air spaces therebetween, saidopen frame structures coinprising corrugated sheet means with the flutesperpendicular to the spaced sheets and at sheet portions in contact withand fastened to the corrugated sheet members to form a relatively rigidspacing means.

13. An insulated structure including inner and outer walls forsubstantially enclosing a space to be insulated, said insulating meansin' cluding a plurality of independent self-sustaining frames, each ofsaid frames consisting of selfsustaining spacing members arranged in theshape of an unbroken perimeter of a polygon, said frames beingsuperimposed on one another with the spacing members in alignment,flexible material having heat reflecting surfaces secured to saidspacing members and enclosing air spaces therebetween, said superimposedframes being joined together forming an insulating panel, said joinedtogether frames being provided with means constituting said spacingmembers as sealing means for preventing the ingress of air to the airspaces between the flexible material, said insulating panel beingremovable from and insertable into the space between the said walls as aunit.

14. An insulating structure including inner and outer walls forsubstantially enclosing a space to be insulated, insulating meansbetween said walls, said insulating means including a plurality ofindependent self-sustaining frames arranged in the form of an unbrokenperimeter of a polygon, s'aid'frames being superimposed one upon theother in alignment, flexible material having heat reflecting surfacessecured to and extending over the frames, said superimposed frames beingjoined together forming an insulating panel, said joined together framesbeing provided with means constituting sealing means for preventing theingress of air to the air spaces between the flexible material, saidinsulating means being removable from and insertable into the spacebetween the said walls as a unit.

15. An insulating structure including inner and outer walls forsubstantially enclosing a space to be insulated, insulating meansbetween said walls, said insulating means including a plurality ofindependent self-sustaining frames, each of said frames consisting ofself-sustaining spacing members arranged in the shape of an unbrokenperimeter of a polygon, said frames being superimposed with the spacingmembers in alignment, exible material having heat reflecting surfacessecured to said spacing members and enclosing air spaces therebetween,said superimposed frames being joined together forming an insulatingpanel, the said spacing members cooperating with one another to closethe spaces between the flexible material, and means cooperating withsaid spacing members for sealing the said spaces between the flexiblematerial to prevent the ingress of air to said spaces, said insulatingunit being removable from and insertable into the space between thewalls as a unit.

EDMUND F. SCHWELIER.

